The NBA just blew up the Clippers and cleared Kawhi to go home
A $30 million fine, five draft picks gone, and Steve Ballmer locked out of his own arena for a year - the NBA's ruling on the Clippers' salary cap scandal is one of the harshest punishments in league history, and it finally frees Kawhi Leonard to return to Toronto.
In brief
The NBA just blew up the Clippers and cleared Kawhi to go home
On September 2, after nearly a year of waiting, the NBA released the findings of an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers - and the verdict was brutal. The Clippers must forfeit five first-round draft picks, one each in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033, and pay a $30 million fine. Owner Steve Ballmer received a one-year suspension, business operations president Gillian Zucker was suspended one year without pay, and basketball operations president Lawrence Frank was suspended six months without pay. Kawhi Leonard himself was fined $700,000 - but his contract was not voided, and he faces no suspension.
That last part matters enormously. Because a trade had been sitting in limbo since June 30: the Clippers had agreed to send Leonard back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and future draft picks. The deal was put on hold pending the NBA's investigation, with the Raptors saying the league had informed them they would assume the risk of any outcome affecting Leonard's contract. Now it is moving. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the trade can proceed after the NBA concluded its investigation, with Charania reporting "full expectation that this trade will be going down as is" and that "both sides can now move forward with getting this deal done."
What the investigation actually found
The determination was based on an independent investigation conducted by the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers - a prior offender of salary cap circumvention rules.
The investigation found that the Clippers improperly funneled off-court endorsement opportunities to Leonard through corporate partners - including Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance - in exchange for team business. The report also stated that the franchise covered personal expenses for Leonard and failed to report improper solicitations made by his former business manager and uncle, Dennis Robertson.
One company reportedly felt pressured to sign Leonard to an endorsement deal in order to secure a Jumbotron bid with the team. That is the kind of quid pro quo the league's salary cap rules exist to prevent. Commissioner Adam Silver did not treat it lightly. Silver condemned the "flagrant violations" and "the Clippers' institutional and leadership failures," noting the severity of the punishment reflects the seriousness of the offense.
The league appears to have imposed the maximum allowed fine for cap circumvention - $7.5 million - and compounded it across all four companies involved, arriving at the $30 million total.
Leonard, through his agent Harrison Gaines, issued a statement. The two-time Finals MVP denied knowing about "anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap" and said: "Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused." The seven-time All-Star said he was looking ahead to his return to Toronto, adding: "As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."
What this does to Los Angeles
The Clippers are not just losing Kawhi. They are losing their organizational infrastructure at the worst possible time. Ballmer - the Microsoft billionaire who spent years reshaping the franchise and built the $2 billion Intuit Dome - cannot set foot in league activities for 365 days. Frank, the architect of every major roster decision over the past several seasons, is gone for six months. Zucker is gone for a year.
The Clippers vehemently rejected the findings and are exploring legal remedies, indicating the saga is far from over. That fight may drag on. The picks are still going. The sanctions also included forfeiture of a 2029 first-round pick acquired from the Indiana Pacers, on top of the team's own five first-rounders.
Had the Clippers gotten off easy, it likely would have emboldened other teams to pursue similar sham sponsorship deals for their stars - which could have upended the NBA's entire salary-cap system, particularly in the punitive second-apron era. Silver chose severity over leniency, and the message landed hard across every front office in the league.
What Kawhi goes back to
Leonard turns 35 this month. He has one year left on his contract at $50.3 million for the 2026-27 season. He leaves the Clippers following six seasons in Los Angeles as the team moves toward a younger direction, after Leonard's representatives informed teams he wanted to sign an extension only with the Raptors.
The Toronto he is returning to is different from the one he left in 2019. The Raptors have won just one playoff series since Leonard departed, finishing 40-36 last season before losing in seven games to the Cavs in the first round. According to sources cited by ESPN, familiarity with Toronto's front office structure - led by executive VP Bobby Webster - was a key factor, as was Leonard's belief the Raptors can contend in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto is sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two future first-round picks, two second-round picks, and one first-round pick swap to the Clippers in exchange for Leonard. Ingram averaged 21.5 points and 5.6 rebounds over 77 games in his lone season with Toronto.
Leonard spent one season with the Raptors during 2018-19, helping lead the team to a championship while earning Finals MVP honors. He left for Los Angeles immediately after. Seven years later, the cap-circumvention scandal that defined his Clippers tenure is what finally sent him back.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
